All posts tagged ‘steroids’

How does a parent reconcile the greatness of sports with its underbelly? (photo: Kevin Makice)

Dave Duerson was one of the good guys. The NFL celebrated the former Chicago Bears safety for his play on the field with Pro Bowl appearances and Super Bowl rings, and honored his sense of community off the field with the NFL Man of the Year Award. After retirement, Duerson continued to serve his peers as a member of the union’s disability panel, detailing individual cases of debilitated former players. In early 2011, however, it became clear that Duerson himself had been debilitated when the athlete committed suicide with a bullet to his chest.

Last week, as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down player suspensions in “Bountygate,” another well-respected football star, Junior Seau, also killed himself. The two suicides are similar, with fatal wounds intended to preserve their football-battered brains for posthumous study. Evidence is accumulating that links concussions suffered playing the game they loved — and the sport I most enjoy watching with my kids — with declining mental health after the physical punishment has ceased.

More than any other revelation about the sport, the death of Duerson is forcing me to reflect on why I continue to watch NFL football. Giving it up would mean not just abandoning my 27-year-old fantasy football team and about three hours of potential euphoria each week, but also losing my connection to afternoons spent with my father trying to point the antenna to Milwaukee to watch blacked-out Bears games on TV. Now a father of three, I am challenged to reconcile this dark side of the game with the Sunday afternoon rituals in the fall where I encourage my kids to help me cheer for big hits.